US Households Dropping Cable TV

An increasing number of American households are cancelling their cable TV service, according to a report from Experian Marketing Services. Consumers are turning off their TVs for a variety of reasons, ranging from the pricing of cable television to the increasing popularity of websites like Netflix and Hulu.

More than 7.6 million American households no longer receive cable TV, according to the report. The number of people that do not receive cable TV has increased 44 per cent in the last four years alongside a significant increase in the number of people that subscribe to online TV and movie streaming services.

The report comes at an interesting time for the cable TV industry, which is currently involved in a legal dispute with TV signal rental company Aereo. The company rents cable television signals to customers using small antennas located in buildings that the company maintains, reportedly without paying any fees to content creators.

Households that subscribe to Netflix or Hulu are the most likely to cancel their cable television service, according to the report. Around 18.1 per cent of households with a subscription to a streaming TV service have cut the cord, in addition to households with smartphones and tablets, which are 20 per cent less likely to have cable TV.

Despite the declining number of cable TV subscribers, video content remains just as popular as before, Experian states. Almost 20 per cent of American adults watch 40 or more hours of television per week, although the low number of Millennials with cable subscriptions indicates that the decline in subscribers may continue.

Analysts believe that the drop in subscribers is due to a combination of factors, from the relatively high pricing of cable services and the “bundling” of television channels to the rise of Netflix, Hulu and other online streaming websites.